Press release from the Welsh Assembly Government:

Ever wondered where you come from? Wanted to find your roots? Are there any
skeletons lurking in your family history? More and more people today are
interested in tracing their family history and discovering their roots and
are increasingly turning to the wealth of information available over the
Internet.
Tracing family histories has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Market research conducted by the BBC has indicated that almost two thirds
(63%) of the adult population are interested in family history, while a
survey of visitors to UK Archives revealed that of all visitors to the
Archives 78.4% of users were researching their family history.

Thanks to funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, you can now access one
of the most useful online tools for researching your family history,
Ancestry.com, free of charge by visiting your local Record Office.

With over 4,000 databases and 2 billion names, and including census, church,
court and immigration records, Ancestry.com is a hugely significant and
invaluable resource for researching family history. It is an important
addition to the extensive range of archival resources and expert advice
available in your Record Offices. Accessible and simple to use it has
unparalleled coverage of historical records from the United Kingdom, the
United States and all over the world.

Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, Alun Pugh has lived in
Ruthin for fifteen years and has already taken advantage of this resource to
research his own family tree. His search led him to make some new and
surprising discoveries. He grew up in Tonypandy, but his family can be
traced back to rural Ceredigion, where they worked as stone masons, moving
into agriculture before succumbing to the lure of the Welsh 'black' gold and
the mines of the Rhondda Valleys.

But the Minister discovered minor scandals in the Pugh family album: his
grandfather was caught stealing coal during the early part of the 20th
century. During a time where there was no central heating people would have
depended upon coal and wood to heat their houses. We can only assume that
Alun Pugh's grandfather had fallen upon hard times during a cold, hard
winter.

Another fact revealed about the family was that although Alun Pugh's
grandparents were married in 1924, unusually for the time his aunt was born
in 1921, a fact kept hidden by the family. This led to some difficulties
when she was registering for secondary school and needed to provide a birth
certificate as none had been issued at the time of her birth. A document
called a statutory declaration had to be procured in place of the birth
certificate.

Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, said:

"Uncovering your family history is a fascinating past-time. Now, with the
availability of so much information online, rolling back the generations is
only a click of the mouse away."

"Local Record Offices are a mine of information and the best place to start
your search."

So, if you wanted to find out more about your past but didn't know where to
start, visit one of Wales' 13 local Record Offices. You never know what you
might find!

Useful websites to get you started.

www.Ancestry.com <http://www.Ancestry.com> - Limited free access available,
but full service available from your local Record Office

Click on 'Family History' on the following websites:

http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info <http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info >
- useful tips on researching your family history

www.llgc.org.uk <http://www.llgc.org.uk> - Click on Family History on the
homepage. The National Library of Wales is a leading centre for researching
Welsh genealogy

www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history <http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history> - Tips
advice and more details about the 'Look Up Your Genes' radio programme

http://www.library.wales.org <http://www.library.wales.org> - Useful links
to a range of websites

www.cymal.wales.gov.uk <http://www.cymal.wales.gov.uk> - Website for
Museums, Archives and Libraries in Wales - click on archive for details of
your local Record Office.

Famous People with Welsh roots
* Tom Cruise
* Gladiator star Russell Crowe's grandfather was from Wrexham
* Kevin Spacey's maternal grandfather was 'of Welsh descent'.
* Tommy Lee Jones has a Welsh father
* Naomi Watts' mother is half-Welsh, half-Australian.
* The father of Thomas Jefferson, the 13th President of the United States,
came from Wales
* Kylie Minogue's mother is from Maesteg.
* The Osmonds trace their roots back to 19th-century South Wales, where
they've found connections to Llantwit Major and Merthyr Tydfil.

3. List of Local Authority Record Offices in Wales. Click on this link for
addresses.
www.cymal.wales.gov.uk/archive/index.html
<http://www.cymal.wales.gov.uk/archive/index.html >
* A.N. Palmer Centre for Local Studies and Archives, Wrexham
* Anglesey County Record Office, Llangefni
* Carmarthenshire Archives Service, Carmarthen
* Ceredigion Archives, Aberystwyth
* Conwy Archive Service, Llandudno
* Denbighshire Record Office, Ruthin
* Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden
* Glamorgan Record Office (covers counties of: Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr
Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff, the Vale of Glamorgan and part of Caerphilly),
Cardiff
* Gwent Record Office (covers counties of: Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen,
Blaenau Gwent and part of Caerphilly), Cwmbran
* Gwynedd Archives Service, Caernarfon
* Pembrokeshire Record Office, Haverfordwest
* Powys County Archives Office, Llandrindod Wells
* West Glamorgan Record Office (covers the City and County of Swansea and
Neath Port Talbot), Swansea
* Wrexham Archives Service

Ancestry.com is also available free at the following libraries:

* Blaenau Gwent
* Bridgend
* Flintshire
* Monmouthshire
* Rhondda Cynon Taff
* Swansea
* Torfaen
* Vale of Glamorgan

Case Study

One user who has benefited from using the Ancestry.com site is Roy Bergiers,
a former rugby player, who played for Llanelli Rugby Club and scored the
winning try in Llanelli's 1972 victory over New Zealand.

Roy has been researching his family history for some time, having felt the
need to discover more about his identity and history. He had some success in
tracing his family, including a surprise mention of a cousin, Rees Williams,
from Connecticut. Roy had no previous knowledge of any Williamses in the
family. After consulting Carmarthenshire Archive Service for advice about
continuing his research, the Archive Service introduced Roy to Ancestry.com
and provided guidance on how to use it.

Roy was able to find out that Rees Williams had left Wales for the United
States in 1890 as his name was in the US immigrations lists for that year.
He also discovered a photograph of the 'Germanic', the ship his relative
travelled on. Following this, Roy used Ancestry.com to find out more about
Rees Williams and his family in America from the US census returns from 1900
- 1930.

Roy continues to discover more about his relatives and has traced some of
his family to Liverpool. Having previously visited the city, without
success, to attempt to trace relatives, he is now able to use Ancestry.com
to undertake his research.

http://new.wales.gov.uk/news/presreleasearchive/130706ancenstry?lang=en

Eluned Jones
Cynghorydd Datblygu Archifau / Archives Development Adviser
CyMAL: Amgueddfeydd Archifau a Llyfrgelloedd Cymru / CyMAL: Museums Archives
and Libraries Wales
Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru / Welsh Assembly Government
Uned 10 Parc Gwyddoniaeth / Unit 10 Science Park
ABERYSTWYTH
SY23 3AH

Ffôn / Tel: 01970 610237
E-bost / E-mail: [log in to unmask]

Dylai'r datganiadau neu'r sylwadau uchod gael eu trin fel rhai personol ac
nid o reidrwydd fel datganiadau neu sylwadau gan Gynulliad Cenedlaethol
Cymru, unrhyw ran ohono neu unrhyw gorff sy'n gysylltiedig ag ef.
Any of the statements or comments made above should be regarded as personal
and not necessarily those of the National Assembly for Wales, any
constituent part or connected body.


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